The Acropolis Rally in Greece, the seventh round of the 2025 World Rally Championship, was a bitter disappointment for Finnish drivers Kalle Rovanperä and Sami Pajar. Both Toyota Rally1 drivers were forced to retire due to technical problems and a crash, leaving Finnish fans without the success they had hoped for. Rovanperä’s second place on the Power Stage brought four World Championship points, but it was little consolation after a difficult weekend. Hyundai’s Ott Tänak dominated the rally convincingly, strengthening his position at the top of the World Rally Championship, while Rovanperä’s performance raises concerns for the championship. The next chance to turn things around comes in Estonia in July.
The rally started promisingly for Rovanperä and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen, although he complained about the car’s oversteer and dusty conditions on Friday, as he said in his X-post after SS3: “Super slippery. Much looser than I expected. The car has a huge oversteer.” He was fourth on Friday, but Saturday proved to be fatal. On SS11, Rovanperä went out, and his Toyota was damaged, possibly due to a broken driveshaft, as he suspected in his X-post: “It could have been that I braked a little late, but in the same rough braking spot, something broke in the differential.” With the help of spectators, he got the car back on the road, but a break was inevitable. Rovanperä returned on Sunday to aim for Super Sunday points, but a flat tire on SS15, at the 23.37 kilometer Tarzan section, took time again. He and Halttunen had to change tires midway through the special stage, which weakened their chances. However, on the Power Stage (SP17), Rovanperä moved up to second, four seconds behind Sébastien Ogier, as reported by Yle Urheilu , but the four points did not make up for the lost weekend.
Sami Pajari’s fate was equally tragic. The young Lahti driver, who is driving his first full season in the Rally1 class, was on promising pace on Friday, fourth before his retirement. A technical fault, an oil leak on the transition section after SS5, forced him to retire, and the car was not fixed for Saturday, as Pajari told X: “We hoped that we could continue on Saturday, but the fault in the combustion system could not be fixed.” Expert Henri Haapamäki emphasized to Yle that Saturday’s kilometers would have been valuable for Pajari in terms of experience: “You should be able to drive in all weather and conditions.” Haapamäki added that Pajari needs to find the limit of how hard you can drive a Rally1 car, which requires repeated risk-taking. Pajari returned on Sunday, but his chances of reaching the top positions were already gone.
Ott Tänak dominated the rally from start to finish. According to MTV Uutisten , he set the fastest times on several special stages and won the rally by 32.8 seconds over Ogier. Tänak’s strong performance, combined with Toyota’s problems, put him in the lead in the World Championship. According to the central Finn, the points standings before Estonia are: Elfyn Evans 150 points, Ogier 141, Tänak 138, Rovanperä 117 and Thierry Neuville 96. Rovanperä’s 33-point lead over Tänak and 14-point lead over Ogier make the championship battle challenging, especially since he has already suffered his second suspension of the season, previously in Kenya due to a faulty alternator. SuomiF1.com reminds that Rovanperä returned for the full season aiming for a third world championship, but the result in Greece was disappointing.
The conditions in Greece, such as high temperatures, dust and rocky roads, tested the cars and drivers. MTV News expert Jari Ketomaa stressed that flat tires were the scourge of Friday, and Rovanperä’s flat tire on SS6 without a clear hit was an example of this. According to Iltalehti , Rovanperä complained about the damage to the car already on Friday: “The car has been so bent since the morning that it won’t go straight.” Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala lamented Rovanperä’s fate to MTV News , stating that adversity is starting to take its toll on the man.
Rovanperä’s season has been a mixed one. In Sardinia he achieved third place and a full 10 points on Sunday, but retirements in Greece and Kenya have slowed his progress. sectorallyfinland.fi highlights his strong performance in Sardinia, but in Greece the problems on the Toyota side, as well as Takamoto Katsuta’s retirement on SS11, highlighted the team’s challenges. Tänak and Hyundai’s dominance, combined with Toyota’s misfortune, reduced Toyota’s lead in the manufacturers’ championship to 66 points.
Rovanperä summed up his feelings about the weekend in X: “The weekend was a big disappointment, I wasn’t at the level I should be, so apologies to the team. We’ll come back stronger in Estonia!” His tenacity on the Power Stage showed his fighting spirit, but as the season continues he needs to find consistency. Expectations are high for Pajarin, but his inexperience in the Rally1 class is showing, and according to Haapamäki he needs to learn to drive at the limit.
The World Rally Championship continues from 17 to 20 July with Rally Estonia, which offers Rovanperä and Pajar another chance. The home race in Finland in August has traditionally been Rovanperä’s forte, and fans are hoping he will return to the top. The Greek disappointment was a big one, but the talent and determination of the Finnish drivers promise a better future.
